Changes
by MrBamforth
Summary: Harry Potter wakes up one day and realises he just doesn't feel anything for Ginny anymore, but something is building in his heart for a certain intelligent brunette. Going back to Hogwarts to finally take their 7th year could be an interesting situation.
1. Chapter 1

_Dear Hermione, _

_Long time no speak, though I'm wondering if you're back from Australia yet. Did everything go okay? I hope that tracking your parents down didn't present too much of a challenge. The main reason for me writing you is because I got a letter from McGonagall asking if I wanted to take a seventh year, and that if I would that I would be head boy. What do you think? I think it would be a good idea, I want to study for my N.E., but I really don't want to go it alone. I realise this is a short letter but just wanted know your thoughts._

_Much love, _

_Harry._

Harry finished writing the letter and gave it to Gideon, his brand new tawny owl, who ruffled his feathers before taking off out of the living room window of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Harry had already begun to become attached to the bird, though he knew in his heart that nothing could quite replace Hedwig. Just the mere thought of his dead first friend set his heart off again, bringing a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach that he knew was going to get worse. Calling Blotty, his new house elf, he asked for a big bowl of chocolate ice cream. A large bowl appeared to him with a pop two minutes later, which he dug into greedily, savouring the way the chocolate made him feel better about things. Harry never really liked change, but after all the years of fighting it had become something that he had needed to get used to.

Collapsing on the moth eaten sofa in front of the TV, Harry pulled the crumpled photo of the old Order of the Phoenix, and couldn't help bursting into tears at all that he had lost in the last 3 years. There was Sirius and Remus, both smiling happily next to his Mum and Dad. It seemed to Harry that almost everyone that he dared to get close to got hurt sooner or later. This fear had been dominating his thoughts for the past two weeks, though he hoped that now Voldemort had gone that this would change. He knew that he could only wait and see what the future held. It was only after the seventh double shot of Firewhiskey that Harry finally succumbed to sleep, dreading the hangover that he was going to have the next morning.

He only stirred the next morning from the bundle of letters that was dropped onto his chest, the thick parchment hitting him with a thud. Wiping sleep out of his bleary eyes, he reached out and opened the first paper, which looked very official. Pulling off the wax seal, he unfolded the parchment and read:

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_My name is Felix Barstow, of the Daily Prophet. I am writing to request a formal interview at your chosen location in the coming weeks. We feel that many of the Wizarding public both would like to hear and deserve to know what happened concerning You-Know-Who in the last months. We promise to print anything that you say to the letter, as we know you have had problems with Rita Skeeter in the past, needless to say she has been sacked from her position. We eagerly await your reply._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Felix Barstow_

_The Daily Prophet_

Harry stared at the letter for a moment, considering whether to do the interview or not. Sure he wanted do it, agreeing with the fact that the public deserved to know, but he really couldn't go through it alone. He knew that he would get far too emotional and needed at lear one of Hermione or Ron to help him through the ordeal. Sighing, he picked up the second letter, and realised from the incredibly neat handwriting on the envelope that it was a reply from Hermione. Yawning, he peeled open the second and final letter.

Dear Harry,

It's really nice to hear from you. Yes everything went fine with my parents and we are all now safe and sound back at home. To be honest though, I think you knew already what my answer was going to be. Of course we should come back to Hogwarts! I already accepted and forced Ron to, though I don't think that his heart was in it. Things haven't been going so well with him of late, and I haven't been talking to him. It turns out he didn't mean what he said about wanting house elves to have rights at all. In fact it seems like he just wanted to get into my pants. We have been arguing a lot, and I can't face seeing him right now. How are things with you and Ginny anyways? I hope it's going better than Ron and I are.

Love,

Hermione

X

It took a minute for Harry to really think about the multitude of emotions that he had felt while reading the letter. He didn't understand why he felt a strange sort of happiness at reading that things weren't going well between Ron and Hermione. This was definitely something he needed to think about, but the more that he thought about it the more that he felt guilty about it. Did he fancy Hermione? He definitely felt his heart flutter in his chest whenever he thought about her. But what about Ginny, she would be here any minute, and was coming to relax with him on the sofa for a day? He really couldn't describe how he felt about her, deciding he would have to wait to see her before he did anything else. Pulling out a quill, ink bottle and parchment he began to write back.

Dear Hermione,

That's great then, I'll accept right away. I think I knew that it would be the right thing to do; I just didn't really want to do it without at least either you or Ron going. I hope things get better with Ron, it sounds like they are becoming really strained. How about we talk about it more in Diagon Alley? Bring Ron if you want, I need to get some new things anyway and we can talk when he inevitably goes to have a look in Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Things are going okay with Ginny, she's coming over today for a lazy afternoon, though I have no idea what time it is. Anyways, I got this letter from a man at the Daily Prophet asking for an exclusive interview? What do you think? I definitely don't want to go it alone.

Love,

Harry

X

Stretching, he finished the letter, wrote a quick confirmation letter to Hogwarts and tied the letters onto Gideon and off he went, before Harry heard the doorbell ring. Clicking his knuckles as he got up, he went to the door to find a beaming Ginny who was stood soaking in the rain.

"Hey!" she said, launching herself at Harry and embracing him tightly before kissing him on the lips. Harry noted the absence of feeling before he replied with another "Hey".

"So how are you?" Ginny said eagerly, pulling her boyfriend by the hand to the sofa before they both sat down.

"Er... Good, you?" Harry replied lamely. For some reason he just couldn't feel the excitement with Ginny anymore. It was like the flame had gone out, but he just couldn't bring himself to hurt her. He knew that he still cared about her, but maybe it had been as a sister all along – they had never had that much in common, apart from Quidditch. It was at this point that Ginny launched into a long rant about how her mother was still being completely unfair and overprotective. It must have lasted a few minutes before she realised that he just wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Harry, are you okay?" she said, pushing her boyfriend's hair back behind his ear before kissing him gently.

"Yeah, just a bit tired, and I have the mother of all hangovers." He replied, hoping that is was a good excuse from the absence of feeling that he seemed to get whenever Ginny touched him. Nevertheless, he had kissed her back, though it had seemed like force of habit. She seemed to accept it and just carried on talking. After a while Harry decided that they should just go to the cinema, that way she didn't have to talk to him, even though thinking this made him feel a bit cruel, but hey, he couldn't change how he felt.

It was about 3 hours later that they returned on the doorstep;both of them now talking eagerly about the film, Harry realising that he saw Ginny more as a friend than anything. He just couldn't bring himself to do it tonight though. Not just yet. While he felt a real awkwardness when she kissed him goodbye, he knew that when he broke up with her that it would completely destroy her and the relationship with the Weasley family that he had built up over the last seven years.

His heart leapt as he saw the reply from Hermione waiting for him on the sofa when he walked back into the living room. The letter was short but sweet. It read simply

"Tomorrow, 10am. Gringotts steps. Can't wait to see you.

Hermione

X

His heart definitely fluttered when he read this, and looking at the clock, decided that he would go to bed, knowing that the faster that he went to sleep, the faster that he would see her.

His stomach leapt in his chest as he saw Hermione stood at the bottom of the chalky white marble steps outside Gringotts bank, clutching her now famous beaded handbag. Harry couldn't help but think that she looked positively beautiful, and admired the way that the light played on her curly locks of hair and on her pale complexion. He felt a giant balloon of excitement fill in his chest when she saw him and beamed. Harry was feeling completely nervous, even though he knew that he had seen her every day for the past year. Today was different. Noting that Ron was nowhere in sight, Harry gave her a big hug before speaking.

"How are you?" Harry said, falling into step next to her as they entered the bank, the extra guards having been lifted now that Voldemort was gone. He couldn't help but see the look of contempt that the goblins have him as they entered. It was obvious that they still resented them for the break in last year, even though through it they had managed to vanquish the Dark Lord.

"I'm great thanks," Hermione replied, sweeping her hair behind her ear. Harry could tell that she was nervous too, but then remembered that she knew that they would have to go on a Gringotts cart to get to his vault, and he knew that she absolutely hated those.

After a particularly sickening cart ride, they finally got to vault six hundred and eighty-seven, clambering awkwardly onto the cold stone bank next to the rails. Hermione looked particularly green from the ride, and Harry but a reassuring arm around her as the goblin opened Harry's vault. His heart fluttered as they did this, not knowing that hers did too.

"Wow!" Hermione said as she saw the contents of Harry's vault. The vault had at least doubled in size, with mountains of galleons glinting brightly from the torches that had lit by magic when the doors had opened.

"Erm, excuse me," Harry said to the goblin that had taken them down "Is there a mistake? There is a hell of a lot more gold here than there was the last time I visited."

"No mistakes, Mr Potter." The goblin replied seriously, eyeing Harry closely. He obviously didn't forgive him for the break-in either. "The contents of the Potter and Black fortune have been added. This was included in their wills."

Harry's mouth dropped. All this gold really was his. He pulled out the velvet bag that he used for carrying his gold out of his pocket, and used his hands to ladle a lot more money than usual into the bag. It was going to be a fun day.

After another horrible and rocky Gringotts ride, Harry and Hermione stepped out into the sun, blinking and squinting from the bright rays that fell upon them. Hermione was the first to speak.

"Well, that was fun," she said sarcastically, before eagerly saying "Shall we go to Flourish and Blotts first?"

Harry chuckled, knowing that the books would have been drawing her gaze while she was stood waiting for him on the steps before.

"Sure." Harry replied, smiling as he saw Hermione pull out the book list from her handbag and unfolding it in front of them. Looking excitedly at the large list of new tomes that she would have to buy, she locked her arm through his and escorted him into the shop, smiling at him affectionately. What they didn't see was the Witch Weekly photographer snapping away on the corner of the street.

.


	2. Chapter 2

"So what happened, then?" Harry asked as they stepped through the big heavy door of Flourish and Blotts, Hermione's eyes widening as they always did when they entered the huge bookshop, she dragged him over to the section of "The Standard Book of Spells" by Miranda Goshawk so they could pick up book seven.

"Well to be honest it's because we always argue," Hermione replied, picking up the tomes and levitating them into a carrying cauldron. "The main thing that started all this off is because the first thing he did when he got the reward from the ministry was he went out, bought a house next to the Burrow and a house elf, you know this.

"Erm. I got a new house elf." Harry replied shiftily, waiting to see Hermione's reaction.

"Oh, I know but you pay her," Hermione said, wordlessly levitating piles of books into the cauldron from the shelf "It's just the way that he treats her, like she's hippogriff dung, and what's more when I confronted him about it he said that working is what they were made to do. I haven't spoken to him since. I just walked out."

"Oh." Harry said simply. Picking up the last pair of books and taking them over to the tills – the cauldron was too full by now. He couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness inside as Hermione said these words. It made him feel breathless just talking to her. His hands were all clammy and he couldn't keep his eyes from her, having to look away as her chocolate eyes came on a level to his.

"What about you and Ginny?" Hermione said to Harry, pulling a purse out of her beaded handbag and handing several galleons and a sickle to the till woman. Before Harry could respond Hermione quickly said "You can pay me back later."

"OK. Erm. Not great really, Hermione." he said, his heart jumping a bit as he could have sworn he saw a small smile appear on his best friend's visage.

"How so?" she said, purposefully keeping the hope out of her voice.

"I just don't think I feel anything anymore. I was writing to a friend the other day and I realised I got on much better with her than with Ginny, and that Ginny and I never really had much in common. The relationship just came out of nowhere because I thought she was fit."

Hermione's stomach dropped. Another witch? How could she be so stupid – Harry wouldn't betray Ron for me. I bet it was Cho or some other witch that's miles prettier than me. She kept all these thoughts beside her as they entered Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, having both need to buy several sets of new robes.

Hermione was after Harry to be fitted, who had ran up to the changing room to check out his new robes before purchasing them. Madam Malkin smiled at her as she began to pin the robes to her size.

"So how long have you loved him?" she said to Hermione before trapping the next pin between her lips in order to focus on the one she was placing.

"Love who?" Hermione replied, gingerly. "_Is it that obvious?" _she thought, looking carefully at the witch.

"Harry." Hermione looked at her incredulously, but before she could get a word out, Madam Malkin continued "Oh come on don't give me that look, dear, your eyes followed him all the way up to the changing rooms. Right, all done."

Hermione hopped off of the stool, not looking at Madam Malkin before marching herself up the stairs and round the corner to the changing rooms, before pulling open a random curtain to get changed in.

Skin. Abs. The rippling muscles of Harry Potter had greeted her the moment that she had opened the curtain. He was only wearing his boxers and Hermione's voice caught in her throat. She stood there for nearly five whole seconds, staring wide eyed as the way the light above flickered over the perfectly formed six pack and broad shoulders. Finally, she managed to stammer a brief "s-s-sorry." before exiting the changing room.

After paying for their robes, Harry and Hermione both marched out of the doors and into the street of Diagon Alley.

"I better go." Hermione said, not daring to look Harry in the eye, completely embarrassed at what had taken place, and yet longing to see his body again.

"Okay," replied Harry slowly, trying to catch Hermione's eyes in his, hoping that there wasn't anything wrong. She had only seen his body; it wasn't anything to write home about.

Hermione gave him a quick, lame hug before disapparating. Moments later, Harry followed suit.

Three months later the Golden Trio plus Ginny, Neville and Luna were all sat in that familiar compartment on the Hogwarts express, talking about how it had been a nightmare to get their books, now that hundreds more students had decided to come to Hogwarts this year. Harry Potter sat there in silence, knowing that talking about the day when he and Hermione had gone to Diagon Alley was sure to upset Ron and Ginny.

Things hadn't been going well, but Hermione hadn't seen much of Ron since Ginny read the article in June's edition of Witch Weekly. Rita Skeeter's article had a simple title - "Love Triangle in the Golden Trio". Ginny had done the opposite however, coming to Harry's house in Grimmauld Place nearly every day and professing her love to him and such. It was only towards the end of August that Ginny thought that she was getting through to her boyfriend. She couldn't have been further from the truth however. Harry was just fed up of making Ginny depressed, plus the feeling of Harry being alone all his life scared him, especially as he was coming to grips with the fact that he may be in love with Hermione.

So Hermione and Harry both sat in silence in the compartment for most of the journey, both too embarrassed to speak, but both looking at each other occasionally. One of them would stop and admire the other the moment that the other had looked away, and only Luna had noticed this.

"Is there a reason why you and Harry keep staring at each other, Hermione?" she said in her usual dreamy singsong voice. She didn't answer, and neither did Harry, due to the fact that Ginny had gone pure white and Ron's face had done the opposite, his knuckles were clenched and his skin colour almost matched his hair.

Harry felt at multitude of emotions as Luna had uttered these words. Hermione was staring at him? Did she like him? The butterflies in his stomach fluttered madly at the thought of it. At that moment nothing else mattered, not Ron or Ginny. He could only hope that his best friend felt the same way.

Ginny possessively wrapped her arm around her boyfriend in the thestral carriage up to the castle. No one was going to take her Harry away from her. She knew that Harry loved her, he had said so in May himself.

"The castle looks pretty this year." she said, trying to break the tension. Unfortunately, no one said anything, and the group spent the rest of the journey in silence, the only sound coming from the wheels trundling up the cobbled path.

This silence eased somewhat as they took their seats in the dining hall, but this was only between Harry and Hermione, who proceeded to talk regardless of the glares that Ron and Ginny kept throwing their way.

"So how are your parents? Harry asked inquisitively, both trying to keep things light and friendly but trying to show his best friend how he cared for her.

"They're fine, thanks," replied Hermione, tying her hair into a ponytail "They were really quick to find too, being in exactly the same place that I had left them. Smiling Harry opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the turn of heads showing that the first years had now entered the Great Hall. The sorting didn't take long, though there weren't very many new additions to Slytherin. After the new students were seated, Headmistress McGonagall stood up to speak.

"Welcome back all, and welcome new students. Before we all settle down to our feast, there are a few start-of-term notices that I would like to announce. Firstly, and most obviously, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students. Anyone caught entering the Forbidden Forest will receive a lot of trouble, namely by myself or the creatures that reside within, though I am sure that they would be a lot more friendly should I find anyone that has decided to take a night-time stroll."

A few older students chuckled at this before she continued.

"Secondly, we have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Trueman. She will be the new head of Gryffindor house. Finally, greenhouse four this year is out of bounds, for anyone who doesn't want to ruin our surprise for later in the year. But that is all. Please enjoy the feast."

There was quite a bit of murmuring excitement here before the plates began to fill up with food. Harry looked at Hermione with a raised eyebrow, but her expression told him that she would talk to him about it later. As their dinner wore on, the conversation was all suddenly aimed at Harry.

"How did you do it Harry, I haven't heard anything from anyone since may." Seamus asked excitedly, spearing a chip on the end of his fork.

"How did you manage to kill him with only a disarming spell?" a second year girl asked from near the end of the table.

Before Harry could speak however, he was asked one more question.

"How does it feel to know that you are betraying your best friend by stealing his girlfriend?" asked none other than Ronald Weasley, who was clenching his fists around his cutlery.

"I'm not doing anything of the sort, Ron." Harry replied hotly, looking the redhead straight into the eyes with a glare.

"Sure." boomed Ron "been saving this for you since May." He threw a copy of a magazine at him, which landed on his desert cutlery with a clatter. Picking it up slowly and turning it around, Harry was horrified, by what he read on the front cover.

"_Betrayal in the Golden Trio?"_ was the main headline. It was obviously penned by the witch Rita Skeeter, who had recently come out as an Animagus. Harry's eyes shot down to read the tagline.

"_It's The Chosen One vs. Ronald Weasley in the battle for the final member of the Golden Trio's heart. But does it look like our wonder boy has already won?_

Beneath this was a picture of what Harry and Hermione both knew was a photo of them linking arms, but the photographer had taken it so it looked like they were holding hands.

Ron sat there, waiting for a response, glaring at his girlfriend and his supposed best friend.

Harry sat and thought for a moment. Choosing his words very carefully. He had to show Hermione that she was interested but not by being too brutal. He finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Ron, that photo isn't what it looks like," Harry started, though Ron's expression showed that he wasn't convinced. "We're actually linking arms here, and to be honest if Hermione chooses to be with someone else, including me then you have to realise that it is her own choice and that she is her own person. Maybe if you actually paid more attention to your girlfriend rather than quidditch then you two might now actually be growing apart."

And with that Harry left the Great Hall. He would need to put protective wards around his bed tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

Changes C3

Harry went through the portrait hole in a huff, the Fat Lady not even asking for the password, knowing the state that he was in. He chuntered under his breath about Ron, and about how the whole thing made him feel. The worst part was that even though he hadn't tried anything with Hermione, he knew that he had wanted to. He didn't want to betray his friend but to be honest Ron had become more of a pain of late anyway. He was the one who had deserted them in the hunt for the Horcruxes, and Harry secretly thought that Ron's absence was what drew Hermione to Ron, not because she really loved him. In fact, Hermione and Harry had gotten along a lot better when their redheaded friend wasn't there anyway.

Harry came to the bottom of the stairs that led to the boy's dormitories, and found that it came to a slant, not letting him up. He tried to walk up it again, but it persisted in its mission to not admit him. It was at this point that Harry felt the badge on his chest glow hotly, and saw a large door appear between the entrances to the staircases to the dorms of each gender. Opening the door hesitantly, he found that he was greeted by the suite for the Head Boy and Girl. There were two single beds next to each other, both of them decked out in scarlet and gold covers. In fact the appearance of the room was a lot more aesthetically pleasing to the eye than the normal dormitories and even the Gryffindor common room. Harry collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Hermione just sat at her table in the Great Hall, stunned by what Harry had just said. He was right. She was growing apart from Ron, and she realised now that she just wasn't in love with him anymore. In fact, how could she claim that she had ever been in love with him when he was completely different to the person that he had pretended to be? She knew in that moment, she had to break up with him. She couldn't bear the sight of him with her anymore, and she realised that they had never actually had that much in common anyway. Cursing under her breath, she knew that it was now or never. She couldn't stand to be in his presence any longer. Moreover, it was unfair to Ron to be with someone who didn't love or want to be with him. Plus there was the whole thing with Harry. It had been obvious that both of them had felt something that day in Diagon Alley, something that she had never felt before – butterflies in her stomach. She hadn't had the chance to get these with Ron because of all the commotion with Voldemort, and so they took her by surprise. But in fact, maybe it wasn't that at all, maybe it was just the fact that her and Ron just weren't meant to be together.<p>

But this new building relationship was exciting. It was new, and she knew that she wanted to be with Harry. But if she wanted this to come to pass she had to do one thing more. It was now or never and it just couldn't wait.

"Ronald, I'm breaking up with you." she said slowly over the table, trying to weigh up her words very carefully. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not in love with you anymore. We're just too different people."

The Gryffindor table went silent. Hermione knew that it was terribly unfair to do this to him in the middle of the Great Hall but she knew that she had to get it over and done with as soon as possible. Ron paled immediately, and his bottom lip began to quiver as if he was about to cry. It was at his point however, that his lips tightened and his skin turned bright red as he threw his cutlery onto the table.

"It's him, isn't it." he said quietly, with a fury that none of the Gryffindors had ever seen before. Hermione didn't answer, but kept her now ex-boyfriend's gaze.

"IT'S HIM ISN'T IT!" he screamed, the sound echoing through the Great Hall. The population of the school became deathly silent.

"Yes." she said quietly so that only Ron and a few others could hear him. Hermione knew that she had to be honest with him, and with herself or it wouldn't be fair on either of them. Ron got to his feet, while slamming his hands onto the table.

"AFTER EVERYTHING, AFTER ALL THAT WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, YOU STILL GO BACK TO HIM, THE FUCKING CHOSEN ONE. ONLY THE BOY WHO FUCKING LIVED IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? FINE, I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED IT FROM YOU, FILTHY MUDBLOOD."

This was enough for Hermione. She uttered one word, using her power in the way that to her, this time was the best time she had ever used it.

"Detention." she said, looking hopefully up at Professor McGonagall, who had been watching the scene unfold. The entire student body was looking to McGonagall for a reaction. She nodded, and with that Hermione got up and swept from the Great Hall, the buckles of her bag clacking loudly behind her.

* * *

><p>Hermione went straight to the head suite in Gryffindor Tower as she burst into the empty Gryffindor common room, but the sight of Harry fast asleep on one of the beds stunned her. She had completely forgotten that Harry would be staying with her. Stopping to stare at her new love interest for a minute, she reflected on the evenings events and how things had been with him in Diagon Alley. She knew that her heart had leapt every single time that her eyes connected with his emerald ones, transfixed by the warmth that they gave her. At this very moment, as she stood there watching Harry asleep on the bed, nothing else at all mattered. She knew that she just wanted it to be her and him, for him to hold her tight and wrap his arms around her so that all of her troubles would just melt away. She sighed a deep sigh, praying that Harry would act on his attraction to her soon, but knowing that boys often took a lot longer than girls to realise such feelings. Maybe she would just have to lead the way.<p>

Hermione emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later all ready for bed. Slowly clambering into her bunk wearing the silvery nightdress that she had bought recently, she took one last look at Harry before shutting her eyes. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

* * *

><p>Harry was the first to awaken the next morning. He reluctantly opened his bleary eyes onto the decorated ceiling of above. He laid there for a moment, admiring the way the golden swirls danced over the cream. It took him a minute to realise that Hermione was there in the room with him fast asleep, and then his eyes popped. The silky silver nightdress had slipped down a little, and her duvet had fallen completely off, revealing a rather sizeable amount of her bust. Harry just stood there mesmerized as he watched Hermione's cleavage move up and down with her every breath. Realising that he was getting a little too excited by this, he went into the bathroom to get a cold shower.<p>

When he emerged, Hermione had still not moved but Harry tried focused on getting himself ready for the first day of lessons, and not look at the beautiful brunette who was sleeping soundly on the other bed. Since it was Friday, he only had one day of lessons this week. He heard Hermione stir as he left their room and entered the common room, to the sight of a rather immaculately dressed Ginny Weasley.

"What do you think, Harry?" she said upon sight of him "It's all for you."

Harry had to admit that she did look very pretty, but on the other hand he realised suddenly that she did look quite like his own mother, and had to admit that this really weirded him out. Ginny was wearing a lot more make up today, and obviously felt a lot sexier as she sashayed her way towards him. Gulping, Harry prepared himself. He had to do this now.

Ginny smiled as Harry took her hand and led her over to the sofa in front of the fire, where just a few embers could still be seen, glowing red among the coals. Ginny obviously thought that Harry was going to say something different to what he said next.

"Ginny, we need to talk." Harry said calmly. Ginny's eyes opened wide, praying that her worst nightmare wasn't about to come true. She merely nodded as she waited for her boyfriend to continue. "I just can't do this anymore. I'm not longer in love with you, and I don't think I have been for a while. I just see you more as a friend than anything, and well, to be honest, I think I'm falling in love with Hermione. I'm sorry."

Ginny swallowed, and immediately tears began to streak down her face.

"Why?" she said, through floods of tears "Am I not good enough for you?"

"It's not that," Harry replied "I'm sure you'll meet a fantastic wizard someday who will give you all the love that you deserve, but it's not me."

Ginny was breathing heavily now, trying to stop herself from sobbing into Harry's shoulder, but her breath was getting shorter and shorter. She felt sick, and it wasn't until she came back to consciousness that she realised that she had blacked out, with Harry gently shaking her body.

"What are you doing?" said the loud voice of Ron Weasley behind them. Harry looked up.

"I've just heard you break up with my sister, and break her heart, and then you try to take advantage of her?" he continued.

"No, Ron, it wasn't like that. Harry just -" Ginny tried

But it was too late, Ron had already thrown the punch at Harry's nose, causing it to break and blood to splatter onto the floor, though it was not visible on the already red carpet. Unfortunately Hermione had seen the incident.

"RONALD WEASLEY!" she shouted, raising her wand. She cast a blue curse at him wordlessly, causing him to double over, winded. "How dare you!"

She cast a wary eye over the scene, before, helping Harry from the ground.

"Come on, love. Let's get you back to our room so we can get you fixed up."

She only just heard Ron shout "OUR ROOM?" from the other side of the door before locking it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"_Episkey" _Hermione said, pointing her wand at Harry's severely broken nose so that it clicked back into place. She had been worried that she would have almost missed; her wand was still shaking from the fury that had erupted inside her when she had witnessed Ron's actions. She wondered just how Ron could do with to someone who was supposed to be his best friend. Had he not learnt anything at all from their years together or was he still just as immature and recklessly headstrong as ever? She shuddered to think of all the trouble that he would get himself into in the outside world if he didn't grow up sometime soon.

Harry's face however was still covered in blood, and Hermione looked at him warmly, but was disturbed by the way that Harry behaved about the injury, like he was used to it. She went over into the bathroom and got a piece of the toilet roll from the holster on the wall. After running it under the cold tap for a few seconds, she returned back into the room where Harry was sat, still shaking lightly from the shock of the argument, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. Sitting next to him, Hermione gently dabbed at the still wet blood on his face, using her other hand to hold Harry's head, anchoring into place so that he would keep his head still. Ron was still banging on the door, demanding to be let in but they ignored him. Both of them both knew that Hermione could have simply used an easy spell to siphon off the blood with her wand, but both of them appreciated Hermione's way of putting it, their eyes both meeting as she cleaned off the blood.

"Harry stop wincing, you big baby." said Hermione cheekily as she dabbed away the last remnants of Ron's punch.

"Hey!" retorted Harry, smirking at the banter.

"I'm surprised he didn't actually knock you out." Hermione said, finishing up and walking over to the toilet where she flushed the blood stained tissue.

Harry was already stood up with his bag in his hand, ready to go when Hermione came back into the room. Ron was still banging on the door, now shouting "Come out and face me, traitor!" louder and louder with each pummel on the wood. Sighing, Hermione picked up her bag, and opened the door. Ron attempted to burst in, but with a quick _petrificus totalus_ from the end of Hermione's wand Ron's threatening behaviour was immediately satiated with his loud clunk on the common room floor.

"What did you do that for?" Ginny snarled, running over to Ron's still body and casting the counter-curse. Ron began to come around, but was very woozy.

"He was going to hurt us." Harry said, calmly. Ginny looked at him straight in the face, examining him. She was trying to find any hint of warmth towards her, and realised that she found none at all.

"Harry. Please," she said, fresh tears dripping down her face. "You were meant to be mine! Mum promised me when I gave you the potions that-"Ginny froze, realising what she had just let slip.

"POTIONS! WHAT POTIONS?" Hermione shouted before Harry could even get a word in. Ginny realised that she couldn't get out of the predicament now, especially if she ever wanted Harry back in her life. Harry was hers. _Her_ Boy-Who-Lived. Dumbledore and her mum had both promised her that. It wasn't fair, Hermione could not have her.

"The...erm..._amortentia_ that I slipped into your pumpkin juice and things." Ginny mumbled, looking down at the floor, trying not to catch either of their eyes. While she wasn't ashamed of what she had done, she needed to appear as if she was."

Harry just stood there for a moment, staring at the wall, completely stunned. He couldn't think of anything to say. All of his feelings for her, all those memories he had with her, fake. He couldn't speak to Ginny right now. He didn't want to speak to anyone right now, knowing that he had been drugged into believing that he was in love for the best part of six months. Slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder and not saying another word, Harry fled from the common room, intending to miss breakfast and head to the room of requirement for some much needed thinking.

It wasn't until after breakfast and ten minutes before his first lesson that Hermione found him in the room, laid on out on a very squishy sofa that the room had conjured for him. She found him staring into space. In reality he was trying not to think. The main thought that was going through his mind was "would he have been with Hermione if Ginny hadn't been spiking his food every day?"

"Come on Harry, we've got Herbology in a quarter of an hour." said Hermione as she approached him, affectionately rubbing his shoulder. She realised that Harry must have wanted her to find him otherwise it would simply have denied her access, and no door would have appeared.

"I don't know what to do, Hermione." she heard him mumbled, turning his head to look at her. She could see that his eyes were brimming with tears, and leaned over to give him a cuddle. "All this time, I never wanted to be with her. What if I had wanted to be with you this whole time?"

"You...you do want to be with me?" Hermione said, stunned and amazed at how all this time she thought that she had been imagining it, but it had been true this whole time.

"But what about Ron?" she replied, trying to find a way to overcome the difficult situation at hand.

"I don't care about Ron anymore," Harry said "He deserted us when we were hunting the Horcruxes, and I have a sneaking suspicion that he may have been spiking you too. In fact I thought I saw him doing something once, but I thought nothing of it."

Hermione sat there, more stunned than before. "I don't know, Harry. I... well I want to be with you but imagine what the school would think, what the whole world will think. We would have to keep it secret. Can you imagine the size of the article in the daily prophet if someone found out?"

"I know. This is why we would have to reveal it on our own terms. But hey, let's not go too fast. Instead of just jumping into this, why don't we come together naturally. Lets just go to our lessons and see how things go. In fact..." Harry paused for a moment "Hermione, will you do me the honour of being my date for the first Hogsmeade visit this weekend?"

Hermione blushed. Not once in all her life had she ever been asked out on a real date before, except by Viktor Krum in her fourth year, and that didn't really count. She _thought_ that she had wanted to go with Ron the whole time _thought_ being the operative word.

"I would love to." she replied, smiling.

Harry couldn't contain his grin as he got up off of the sofa to pick up his bag.

"Brilliant, let's go to Herbology." he said, beaming as they both walked to the door to head off to their first lesson of the day.

* * *

><p>They were shocked to see that Draco Malfoy had still been admitted to Hogwarts this year, especially after everything had happened. He was already there when Harry and Hermione entered greenhouse four, ready to start their lesson. They had been stealing glances at each other for the entire walk to the greenhouses, but now they were transfixed to find that the blond haired Slytherin would be joining them.<p>

Draco sat in silence for the whole lesson, and didn't even say a word when Professor Sprout docked Slytherin points for blatantly ignoring her when she asked him what the most effective way was to sooth a teething _venomous tentacula_ plant. Even when his fellow Slytherins glared at him for this, he kept completely still. Harry and Hermione both noticed that he didn't even make a jibe about Harry's parents, or Hermione's blood purity. In fact, he didn't even say anything to anyone at all.

Our blossoming couple talked quietly about this in their free lesson in the library before lunch. Hermione had dragged Harry there to already start work on the incredibly lengthy essay that Professor Sprout had given them on _venomous tentacula_ soothing techniques, something that Harry had groaned about the moment that the suggestion had come out of Hermione's mouth. He wasn't surprised however at the suggestion, knowing Hermione's nature, and was actually glad of the chance to get the essay out of the way, knowing for a fact that the amount of work that they got this NEWT year was going to be monumental.

"Why didn't he say anything though," said Harry, pausing to look up from his copy of _one thousand magical herbs and fungi._

"Well, it's obviously what he didn't say is the thing." Hermione replied absentmindedly, rapidly scribbling an essay plan on a spare bit of parchment.

"Huh?" Harry said, confused."

"Well, it's either he's hiding something, or he feels ashamed for what he and his family have done, let's hope it's the latter. "said Hermione, and Harry nodded in agreement and went back to his work, still thinking about the former Death Eater that has caused them so many problems for the last 7 and a bit years.

Hermione had naturally finished her essay quite a long time before Harry, and was now reading through the first chapter in her new Charms textbook for the lesson that they had after lunch with Professor Flitwick. She had just finished the chapter when Harry picked up his essay to give to Hermione so that she could have a read through it. He now did this on automatic, knowing that Hermione was going to mither him until she got a good look at in anyway. The parchment however, slipped out of his hands clumsily as he attempted to pass it over to her. Both Harry and Hermione bent down to pick it up at his point, each of them getting to their hands and knees on the floor to find the roll of parchment that had rolled under the workstation on which they were working. Harry was there first, and as he pulled back up from under the table, he felt his forehead clash with Hermione's. After a simultaneous "OW!" from both of them, their eyes met.

Hermione just sat there stunned, enraptured in the emerald eyes that met hers, hypnotised by them. She could see a number of things in those beautiful orbs. Pain and suffering, not only from the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters but also from the terrible childhood that he had had and not revealed any details about it to anyone. But above all else, she could see love in his eyes, and felt butterflies fluttering around in the pit of her stomach. Her own eyes, moved to Harry's lips, and she shocked herself by how much she wanted to kiss him, to feel his soft lips caressing her own.

Harry seemed to mirror his thoughts, as he began to lean inwards, his eyes slowly shutting as he prepared for their first kiss. Hermione's breath caught in her throat, her head was spinning, and she hadn't even kissed him yet, but the anticipation was unbearable. The butterflies fluttering in her stomach turn to great doves, and she leaned in to accept blissful oblivion.

"HARRY? HARRY, ARE YOU IN HERE?" came the voice of Ginny Weasley, the one person who Hermione most wanted to curse at this moment in time for ruining the perfect moment with the first man that she knew she felt something for.

"There you are, Harry," Ginny said, coming round the corner to see Harry and Hermione on the floor "I've been looking all over for you. We need to talk."

"Can this not wait?" Harry said, annoyed at the fact he had been denied by the woman who had stopped him doing this much earlier. "I'm kind of busy."

"This is the only free lesson I've got today, so no, it can't." She replied, examining the situation between Harry and Hermione on the floor in disgust. Harry was supposed to be hers, her mother had told her all her life that the Boy-Who-Lived would be her knight in shining armour, and that they would marry someday.

Harry begrudgingly followed her outside and into the corridor. It was completely empty and quiet, save for the sound of Peeves getting up to his usual antics along the way.

"Okay, Ginny just what is it that you want to talk to me about?" Harry said as Ginny turned around to face him.

"Just... why Harry?" she replied "What has Hermione got that I haven't?"

"Look, it's not that Ginny. There's nothing wrong with you, I just can't be with someone who was spiking my food for the past year or so."

"But I love you."

"I'm sorry Ginny, but you aren't in love with me, you're in love with the Boy-Who Lived."

"Is there nothing at all I can do to make you fall in love with me again?" Ginny said, a tear dripping down her cheek.

"I'm sorry Ginny, but I just can't forgive you for this. I think I'll be happy to be your friend, in time but I just ... well I want Hermione, I'm sorry."

"But your meant for me. Mum promised me that you would be the one to marry me, and we would live happily forever after and have kids and-"

"Ginny, that's never going to happen."

"Fine," Ginny replied, a sudden massive amount of fury having built up inside her "If I can't have you, no-one can. I will win back your heart Harry Potter, if it's the last thing I do."

With that, the youngest Weasley turned on the spot and stomped away. Harry gulped, things were about to get very difficult.


End file.
